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If there were as much diversity in Oscar’s other categories as there is in this year’s lineup for Live Action Short, you can bet there would be a lot less complaining about the Academy being shortsighted. The nominees, all of which hit theaters this Friday, include two intrinsically Irish dramedies, a German heart-tugger, an American film-school romp and a darkly funny Norwegian mortality tale. The latter, “Tuba Atlantic,” stands way out in front in terms of likability, its wry story of a man with less than a week to live as frequently hilarious as it is gently sentimental. Directed by Hallvar Witzø, the film isn’t likely to take the trophy, but it’ll leave you with a big, crooked smile.
The probable winner is “Raju,” a trust-your-conscience movie about a German couple who adopt an Indian boy in Kolkata, only to learn painful secrets about his origins when he gets lost in the city marketplace. The drama, directed by Max Zähle, is well shot, but highly banal, reaching for familiar, important-on-paper social issues that lack urgency.
“The Shore,” directed by Terry George of “Hotel Rwanda” fame, features character actor Ciarán Hinds as an Irishman returning home to reconnect with old friend, a one-armed fisherman of modest means. There’s a sweetness to the story, but a rushed quality too, and the boredom of its middle is never justified.
More nimble is “Pentecost,” also from Ireland, about a disgraced altar boy whose pressure-filled redemption is formally and thematically linked to his obsession with soccer. A film by actor Peter McDonald, it feels like a commercial, but it offers an ending that is, quite literally, a kick.
Finally there’s “Time Freak,” a sci-fi comedy from filmmaker Andrew Bowler that recalls both “Groundhog Day” and 2004’s “Primer.” Sadly, it holds a candle to neither, suffering from amateurish acting and derivative plot elements that satisfy, but only in the most rudimentary sense. On their own, the Live Action Short nominees largely see their flaws exposed, but as a group, they represent a wide range of vision that supercedes their shortcomings.
Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2012: Live Action
NR
Two-and-a-half reels out of four
Opens tomorrow at the Ritz at the Bourse
Recommended Rental
Take Shelter
R
Available Tuesday
Michael Shannon gives another brilliantly unhinged performance in “Take Shelter,” an exquisitely made, apocalyptic allegory of our times that emerged as one of the best films of 2011. Playing a blue-collar worker haunted by unexplainable visions of doom, Shannon’s character insists on building a bomb shelter in his backyard, and in the process may just be digging a grave for him and his family. SPR
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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